I know how Lot felt

"[God] rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds)..." 2 Peter 2:7

Acknowledging that I am "righteous" only by the imparted righteousness of Jesus Christ, I want to say that I know how Lot felt.  My soul, too, is tormented day after day by the "sensual conduct of unprincipled men (and women)"!

In Long Beach over the past 20 years we have seen such a rapid playing out of the terrifying passage in Romans 1:18-32 which depicts the downward and ultimately lethal spiral God permits when people choose to push away and spurn their knowledge of God.

In this passage, note the causes and effects: what God revealed to people, what certain ones did and didn't do with that revelation and God's resultant verdict.  Note what was "exchanged" for what and the 3 things to which God "gave them over" as a result.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of an incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 

"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 

"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their acts.

"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

My posts now published as books--available on Amazon.com

Posts from this blog about my mother became the book, MUM: THE CONSCIENCE, COURAGE AND COMPASSION OF BARBARA REYNOLDS, June 15, 1915 - Feb. 11, 1990.


                           

Posts of true fun animal stories became the book THE DOG WHO ONLY ATE TACOS and Other Stories.




 Posts about our adventures on the yacht PHOENIX OF HIROSHIMA--going around the world and sailing into the Pacific nuclear test zone (1958) and to the USSR (1961) to protest nuclear weapons--became THE REYNOLDS FAMILY, THE NUCLEAR AGE AND A BRAVE WOODEN BOAT.

My other books, also available on Amazon.com:
                            
   GIANNA: Aborted and Lived to Tell About It, the true, triumphant story of a baby girl born alive in an abortion clinic. Gianna Jessen has testified in legislatures around the world to the fact of life before birth. She  was a consultant for the movie October Sky and sang one of the songs in it.

COMPELLING INTERESTS: A novel about abortion from the hearts of people on both sides. Set against the background of the history of abortion in the United States, this book follows the lives of a woman scarred by an illegal abortion, a baby saved from abortion, a Supreme Court justice and others. 


"Jessica Shaver Renshaw has done the impossible. She's written a highly readable, informative and entertaining book on an extremely controversial topic: abortion. She seamlessly weaves fact and fiction while accurately conveying the logic and emotions of both sides with respect and compassion. Compelling Interests is in a category by itself and should be read by anyone who has an interest in truly understanding abortion and the debate surrounding it. If you've never really studied much about abortion because you don't like the heated debates it often generates, this book will be especially helpful. I highly recommend this book whether you're pro-choice, pro-life or somewhere in between." Roger Resler, Author, Compelling Interest


 
NEW EVERY MORNING, a novel: A broken relationship between father and daughter is healed through Alzheimer's.  

Jessica's Journal, an 11-year old's diary while sailing with her family from Hawaii to New Zealand. (Jessica Reynolds) is published in full online at http://betweenthemasts.blogspot.com/

My book To Russia with Love: An American Family Challenges Nuclear Testing, a 17-year old's account of sailing to the USSR during the Cold War, is only available from Wilmington College Peace Center at https://www.wilmington.edu/the-wilmington-difference/prc/, Attn: Dr. Tanya Maus, Director.

(Note: Since my first book, Jessica's Journal, was published when I was 14, it was published under my maiden name, Jessica Reynolds. The rest are published under one of my married names, Jessica Shaver or Jessica Renshaw or some combination thereof. Sorry for any confusion.)

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Jessica+Renshaw

FOREVER ALIVE

 
One year ago today (it was Easter), Jerry and I completed what God had assigned us to do at GBC, to "stay and stand" for the church which had been dedicated to Him and His gospel in Long Beach in 1913, to bring the deeds of darkness which had diverted its purpose since 1990 into the light for His judgment.

He released us to leave but He is still enlightening the eyes of people attending GBC. He is bringing them out by ones and twos and by families, many of them dazed as they hear the Bible preached and realize (like lobsters in a pot) how they were gradually seduced away from the truth and duped for so long, how they filled in the gaps in the sermons with their own assumptions that the gospel was still being preached there.

The darkness has gone underground, covered with a happy, thriving facade now that those calling the leadership to account have all been banished. God has more to expose and to judge, in His own time and through other means. But we thank God that we were faithful through tremendous spiritual oppression and attack and that our part in all this is over.

Jerry and I are grateful new members of Cornerstone Church, Long Beach, where the Bible--including sin, repentance, salvation, heaven, hell, and prophecy--are openly and unashamedly preached and where Jesus Christ is joyously worshiped in three services every weekend. Altar calls bring people to forgiveness, restoration, or healing at every one of them. So many refugees from GBC are joining the church, Cornerstone is having to expand to include 175 new seats!

We appreciate Pastor Jerry Rueb. You can listen to his Resurrection Day sermon (3-31-13), "Forever Alive" at http://www.cclb.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=126127&id1=592&id1t=c&id2=5421&id2t=i You can also watch each Sunday's service live from anywhere in the world at 10:45 AM. We welcome you to worship with us in person or online!

NOTE: This blog never had more than 15 people following it publicly and it hardly ever has new posts anymore. Yet it is still averaging 30 hits per day. Last month it had over 1,000 hits--and the total count is 72,630! I don't know who you are* or what brought you here (frankly I hope some of you are from the IRS), but we pray each of you will receive truth, wisdom, courage, peace, joy and every spiritual blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ!

*Pageviews by Countries

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Canada	665
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I forgive you

In Neil Anderson's "Seven Steps to Freedom in Christ," Step 3 deals with "Bitterness vs. Forgiveness." I have led many people through this step. Now it is my turn.

I choose to forgive the pastors and elders of Grace Brethren Church for hurting us. I choose to forgive you for hurting so many of our friends. I choose to forgive you for continuing to hurt those who do not agree with you, who agree with the Bible instead. 

I choose to forgive those friends of ours who still believe the leaders at GBC. 

Forgiveness doesn't mean what someone did to you was all right.

"Forgiveness is a choice, a crisis of the will. Since God requires us to forgive, it is something we can do. [Matthew 6:12-15; Ephesians 4:32] However, forgiveness is difficult for us because it pulls against our concept of justice. We want revenge for offenses suffered. [In my case, I have wanted vindication.] However, we are told never to take our own revenge  (see Romans 12:19). You say, 'Why should I let them off the hook?' That is precisely the problem. You are still hooked to them, still bound by your past. You will let them off your hook, but they are never off God's. He will deal with them fairly, something we cannot do.

"You say, 'You don't understand how much this person hurt me!' But don't you see, they are still hurting you!  You don't forgive someone for their sake; you do it for your own sake so you can be free. Your need to forgive isn't an issue between you and the offender; it's between you and God. [Matthew 18:34]

"Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. You're going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not; your only choice is whether you will do so in the bitterness of unforgiveness or the freedom of forgiveness.

Forgiving someone doesn't mean we have to put ourselves in a position to be hurt by them again.You must set up scriptural boundaries to prevent future abuse. 

"Decide that you will bear the burdens of their offenses by not using that information against them in the future." [God called Jerry and me to "bring the deeds of darkness into the light for My judgment." When he released us to leave Grace Brethren Church, He released us from exposing their deeds.]

"How do you forgive from your heart? You acknowledge the hurt and the hate. If your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your life, it will be incomplete. . . Let God bring the pain to the surface so He can deal with it. This is where the healing takes place."

"Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving; you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made. Freedom is what will be gained, not a feeling." 

Forgiveness is dealing with your pain and leaving the other person to God.

'Lord, by an act of my will, I choose to forgive (name the person) for (verbally share every hurt and pain the Lord brings to your mind and how it made you feel).'

"'Lord, I release all these people to You, and my right to seek revenge. I choose not to hold on to my bitterness, anger, and self-pity. I ask You to heal my damaged emotions. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.'"

                              
[Note: The way I look at it, we are all going to spend eternity together in heaven--so I'd better start learning to love you down here!]

Not Janus

There was one who stood out from all the rest. He made a point of quietly coming up to us and giving us hugs, asking how we were, really caring. He sent us emails now and then--just a line or two--wishing us a happy Thanksgiving or a merry Christmas.

At first I thought he must not have heard the accusations, must not have been aware of the ogres we were. But he must have known because he was--still is--an elder. Yet he did not look through us or away from us. He greeted us not as Judas but as Jesus. 

Of all the others, from those who set themselves against us to those who were deeply troubled and didn't know how to view us, he still stands out in my mind. This man did not judge us. This man exemplified Christ's command to love his enemies. I know he did not even consider us his enemies.

This man, Jim Siler, was walking in the sandals of his Lord. And I want to thank him: Jim, you kept me from utterly losing faith in the Church. 

Peace (written after church this morning)

"Don't pray!" they told us. "We're praying!"

"Don't sing!" they told us. "You're not worthy of worshiping God!"

"Don't speak! We will tell people not to listen!"

"Don't write! We will tell people lies about you

that will taint what you post."



"We think you'd be happier at another church,"

they told us firmly (two elders, standing before us)--

and to make their meaning clear,

they stripped away our 36+ year membership,

stripped us naked

in front of everybody.



Part of the diaspora,

we followed nearly 200 other dazed people

and limped elsewhere.


Our new pastor opened his arms to embrace us.

He told his congregation,

"We are expanding our worship center,

with seating for an additional 175."



Through him

the Lord whispered,

I love to hear you pray!

I love to hear you sing!

When you speak of Me,

I am exalted!

When you write of Me,

your words delight My heart!


You  will  be  happier  here!

PTSD

Another Sunday morning. Again I wake up tense, disturbed.

I sit on the edge of the bed, tears welling up.

"This is not that church," I say to Jerry. "Remind me the church we are now attending is not like that." I am breathing hard. "Not all church leaders are like that. These men will not treat us like that. They will not publicly denounce us. They will not humiliate us. They will not lie about us and turn our friends against us. Not all men are like that."

Jerry puts his arms around me. "No," he says gently. "He is not Lou."